Automatic base-ball apparatus.



01 HANDELAN.

AUTOMATIC BASE BALL APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 23. 19x5.

Patented Apr. 24, 1917.

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D. HANDELAN. AUTOMATIC BASE BALL APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 23, 1915.

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D. HANDELAN.

AUTOMATIC BASE BALL APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED SEPT; 23, 1915.

1 ,223,386. v Patented Apr. 24; 1917.-

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

' minim HANDELAN, or MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

AUTOMATIC BASE-BALL APPARATUS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DANIEL HANDELAN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Minneapolis, in the county of Hennepin and State ofMinnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inAutomatic Base-Ball Apparatus, of which the following is aspecification.

y ball apparatus and has for its object to provide, in combination witha sloping floor and a curtain or back stop against which the balls arebatted, means at the rear of said curtain for taking the balls from atrough at the bottom of the sloping platform and elevating them behindthe curtain, and for delivering said balls to pitching apparatus behindthe curtain or back stop from which the balls are pitched throughopenings in the curtain to the batter at the front of the hall. It is afurther object of the invention to provide novel pitching apparatus,comprising a continuously-driven shaft having thereon one or morepitching arms adapted to be actuated by springs set by the rotation ofthe shaft and to be automatically released to pitch the balls at thetime when the spring 15 drawn to a larger scale.

properly set, means for automatically delivering one at a time to thethrowing arm.

The full objects and advantages of my invention will appear inconnection with the detailed description thereof and areparticularlypointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, illustrating the applicationof my invention in oneform,

- Figure 1 is a plan view of. a portion of a baseball court showing myinvention in place. Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the ballelevating and delivery devices taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is aplan view of a portion of the device shown in Fig. 1 drawn to a largerscale. Fig. 4 is a side elevational view of the parts shownin Fig. 3 indifferent positions. Fig. 5 is a rear elevational view of the partsshown in ig.

Figs. 6 and 7 are enlarged elevational sectional views of the ballejectors orfeeders showing the parts in relatively altered positions.Fig. 8 is a said device also including the balls rear sectionalelevational view of the equalizer taken on line 88 of Fig. 2. Fig. 9 isa plan view of the parts shown in Fig. 8 with portions cut away to showother portions beneath. Fig. 10 is a sectional plan view of the pitchingmachine proper.

Specification of Letters Patent.

and 15 invention relates to automatic base .ing upward to meet PatentedApr. 24, 1917.

Application filed September 23, 1915. Serial No. 52,216.

In conjunction with my invention I employ a baseball court of ordinaryconstruction, as best shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Within a. building 10 islaid upon the regular floor 17 a supplemental floor 11 slanting towardthe rear nating in a pair of transverse troughs 12 formed by verticalmembers 13 and 1 1. To the members 13 'I secure a canvas or othersuitable backing 16 against which the balls are batted, said canvasbacking slopthe ceiling and provided with an opening 136 through whichthe balls are thrown, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

As the balls are batted they finally light upon floor 11 and roll downinto one o troughs 12 and 15, where they are conveyed to the ends 21 ofsaid troughs and elevated to a distributing head 18 by means of a pairof belt conveyers 19 and 20 operating in said trough. As best seen inFig. 1, troughs 12 and 15 approach each other at 21 and make a rightangled turn, extending upward and adjacent to each other at 22 and 23and uniting at and terminating in the distributing head 18 previouslymentioned. The upper ends of trough portions 22 and 23 rest upon a frame24, shown in Fig. 2. The conveyers 19 and 20 already referred tocomprise belts 25 and 27 upon which are rotatably mounted sets ofrollers 26 and 28, and said belts pass through the troughs 12, 15, 22and 23', as clearly shown in Fig. 1, causing the balls to roll along thetroughs. Belt 25 travels over idlers 29 and pulley 30, and belt 27similarly passes over idlers 31 and pulley 32. Idlers 29 and 31 are allmounted .on brackets 33 secured to the floor 17, while pulleys 30 and 32are fast upon shafts 34 and 35. naled in bearings 24 and in bearings 37attached to the floor 17. Shafts 34 and 35 are driven by means ofpulleys 126 and 127 fast thereon and belted to pulleys 128 and 129,respectively, said latter pulleys being secured upon a constantlyrotating shaft 60. the be later described, the rotation of said shaftscausing belts 25 and 27 to travel and engage the base balls 38. thusgathering and elevating them to the discharge head 18.

The course of the balls 38 after leaving elevating troughs 22 and 23 isbest shown in Fig. 1 A pair of and 4.0 communicate with the dischargehead of the building and termi- Y function of which will deliverytroughs 39 a lower end 18 and take an easy curve at right angles fromsaid head to distribute the balls to the cups 41 of the pitching arins42. Troughs 39 and 40 slope so that the balls can be distributed bygravity. The head 18, as noted in Fig.2, slopes downward to meet thetroughs 39 and 40 so that as soon as the balls are disengaged from theconveyers they are thenceforth brought forward and distributed bygravity, In discharge head 18 I provide a vane 43 which is automaticallyturned, as best shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 5. to permit the balls todischarge in either of the delivery troughs 39 or 40 from the respectiveelevating troughs 22 and 23 or from both of them in to either of saiddelivery troughs. Trough 40 is supported upon its on a braced stand 44to which it IS hinged at 45. Near its upper end said trough is supportedupon one end 190f a rocking beam 46, which is pivoted at its forwarddirection. As clearly shown in Figs. 8 and 9. said arm 52 is connectedby a pair of cords 54 and 55, which pass over a pair of pulleys 56 and57 secured to head to projecting fingers 58 and 59 situated on the undersides of delivery troughs 39 and 40. As the beam 46 is caused to rock,vane 43 is made to turn, as shown in Figs. 1 and 5. Normally the baseballs 38 are collected and elevated by the conveyers 19 and 20 and thesame are caused to be discharged troughs 39 and 40, which is onlypermitted when vane 48 is in the position shown in full lines in Fig.

now a greater number of balls should be collected in trough 12 anddischarg .d into trough 40. the additional weight of i would immediatelycause it to move downward, this effecting a shift of the vane 43, asshown in full lines in Fig. 1, and so causing the balls from both ofconveyers 19 and 20 to be discharged into trough 39. W'hen the weight ofthat trough would exceed that of trough 40 the reverse would take placeand the vane would take the position shown in dotted lines in Figs. 1and 5. Thus an equalizer is provided which automatically distributes theballs to the pitching arms in proportion to the number of balls thrownby the same regardless of whether they are collected from one side ofthe court or the other.

The

66 fast on shaft 60. The pitching machine proper is shown in section inFig. 10. A housing 67 is rigidly secured to the end of shaft 60 and isprovided with a 68. Within housing 67 69 in which are located theactuating and retarding elements of the device. Casting 69 is providedwith a. cylindrical compartment 70, a crank shaft chamber 71 and an oilreservoir 72. Chamber 71 is provided with 74 in which is journaled aflanged sleeve 75. In sleeve 75 and a portion 7 6 of casting 69 isjournaled a crank shaft 77 to which is attached a pitman 78 operatingchamber 71 the periphery of the flange of sleeve 75 whereby the sleeveis held in engagement With said arm. Spr'ng 84 serves to actuate thethrowing arm.

and when at the required movement arm 42 is released said arm swings bymeans of a needle Cylinder made to communicate with said chamber bymeans of a ball and a by-pass 86 issuing a fixed distance from the endof nterior pf casting 69 is filled with oil which arm 42 position shownin Fig. 10 in full lines, and as the arm 42 swings piston 79 travelsrapbolt 96 passing through a idly into the cylinder, transferring theoil therein to chambers 71 and 72 bv means of the by-pass 86 and theoutlet 82. When said cylinder covers the inlet of by-pass 86 the flow foil takes place entirely through outlet'82 and so quickly retards themotion of arm 42 to that of shaft 60. When arm 42 is next held stillpiston 7 9 is drawn back to the position shown in full lines in Fi 10,the oil entering said cylinder throug the ball valve 85 and by-pass 86.It will be noted that the crank shaft 77 never makes continuous rotationwith respect to casting 69, but that it is turned a half a revolutionand then returns in the opposite direction to its original position. Togiv'e any desirable speed to the balls the sleeve may be rotated to windor unwind spring 84 with respect to arm 42, and in order to prevent thesame from unwinding the pitman 78 is made crank shaft *7 7 cannot make acomplete revolution.

The device for holding and releasing arm 42 is best shown in Figs. 3 and4. A plunger 89 slides in a casting 90 secured to standard 44, andbetween casting 90 and a collar 91' on said plunger is a compressioncoil spring 92 which tends to hold the plunger in the path of arm 42 soas to deprive it of rotational movement. Extending under housing 67 is alever 93 hinged at 94 and-attached at one end to a post 95 by a slot 97in said lever, and supported at its other end by a rod 104 operating inball and socket joints 105 and 106. Plunger 89 is pivoted to arm 93 at98. Secured to arm 93 adjacent pivot 98 is a cord 99 which passes over apulley 100 to the front of the court, whereby the plunger 89 can beretracted or projected to disengage or engage the arm 42 at the will ofthe operator at the front of the court. To one side of lever 93 isfastened a block 101 having a cam surface 102 engageable by a cam roller103 adjustably positioned onthe periphery of houslng 67. Then at theright moment cam roller 103 engages cam surface 102, lever 93 isdisplaced and plunger 89 is withdrawn, releasing arm 42 to pitch theball.

The halls are dropped into the cup 41 immediately after the arm 42 hasbeen engaged by a device operating as follows: Pivotally attached tolever 93 at 107 is an arm 108 extending upward and-forward in back ofthe housing 67. From this arm extends a chain 111 to another arm 109extending parallel to lever 93 pivoted to the post 95 at 110. Arm 108 isengaged by a roller 114 on the rear side of housing 67, which causessaid arm to oscillate and lift arm 109. I The function of arm 109 is todischarge the balls one at a time into the cup 41, as clearly shown inFigs. 6 and 7. A

. Fig.

shown in Fig. 7,

long enough so that the" spout 115 communicating with trough 40 is setup above said trough so that the balls have tobe lifted before they canenter it and roll from it into cup 41. A vertical rod 113 is pivotallysecured to arm 109 and is provided at its upper extremity with a plate116 which normally lies flush with the bottom of the trough, as shown in6. When arm 109 is lifted by arm 108, plate 116 is raised and elevatesthe ball, as where the same rolls off into cup 41 prior to the releasingof arm 42, and when plate 116 returns to its normal position anotherball comes in place. It will be noted 7 in Fig. 3 in the dotted linesrepresenting lever 93 and arm 108, that when cord. 99 is drawn up todisengage plunger and arm 108 so that cam roller 114 cannot engage saidarm and hence ,does not cause balls to be elevated into the spout 115,thus ejecting exactly as many balls as are pitched.

To throw the balls in different elevations it is merely necessary toadjust the cam roller 103 circumferentially. To vary the lateraldirection of throw of the balls I employ the device illustrated in Fig.10. Casting 69 is pivotally attached to housing 67 at 117 and canoscillate between two adjustable stops 118 and 119 fastened in the wallof housing 67 and in the cover 68. Casting 69 can be oscillated toeither of its extreme positions by means of a link 120 secured to agrooved collar 121 splined to shaft 60, said collar being shifted by abell crank 122 pivoted at 123 to the bearing 63 and a connecting link124 secured to a strap 150 operating in said collar. The bell crank 122is operated by a long rod 125 extending to the front of the court withinreach of the operator. This device is of special value in narrow courtsto accommodate right and left handed batters. g

A device for throwing the base balls in curves is shown attached to thecup 41 in Fig. 10. "The cup proper 21 is made of sheet metal formed ontwo wire forms 130 and 131, bent as shown. The ends of said wires arethreaded to receive nuts 132, by means of which the cup can be attachedto the arm 42. At the other ends of wire forms 130 and 131 are providedrollers 133 and 134 which may be kept from rotating by means of nuts135. It will become evident that when the ball engages a fast roller itwill be given absolute rotational movement and so travel in a curvedpath. By this means the ball can be made to travel in three curved pathsand one normal path, as desired.

My invention has the advantage of relieving the operator of doing allthe work in pitching the balls and also decreases the number ofoperators required for a court. It also provides means for gathering theballs from a floor sloping in only one direction, and so adapts the sameto be installed 89, lever 93 are simultaneously drawn aside in discardedtheaters, or the like, and the fact that all of the parts are above thefloor makes it easy to install. It will be noted that all of the partsare situated behind the backing, adding to the ease of the which theballs come.

I claim:

1. In combination with a platform sloping rearWardly having aball-receiving trough at the bottom thereof and a back stop exwardly toan elevated point and operating to convey the balls thereto from saidtrough, means for delivering the balls one at a time to the pitchingmachine, said pitching machine thereafter automatically throwing theballs through apertures in the back stop.

2. In combination with a platform sloping rearwardly having aball-receiving trough at the bottom thereof and a back stop extendingupwardly from said trough against which the balls are batted, a troughextending rearwardly first-named trough behind said back stop, apitching machine located behind the back stop, a receptacle forreceiving balls from said upwardly-sloping trough and holding the samefor automatic delivery one at a time to the pitching machine, and meansrunning continuously in said troughs for positively conveying the ballsto the receptacle.

wardly and upwardly from said first-named trough behind said back stop,a pitching machine located behind the back stop, a recepback stop.

4. In combination with a platform slopmg rearwardly having aball-receiving trough at the bottom thereof and a'back stop extendingupwardly from said trough against which the balls are batted, a troughextending rearwardly and upwardly from the central portion of saidfirst-named trough behind said back stop, a pitching machine locatedbehind the back stop, a receptacle for receiving balls from saidupwardly-sloping trough and holding the same for autoballs to thereceptacle.

5. In combination with a platform sloping rearwardly having aball-receiving trough at the bottom thereof and a back stop extendingupwardly from said trough against which the balls portion of saidfirst-named trough behind said back stop, a pair of pitching machineslocated behind the back stop in spaced relation, a separate receptaclefor each pitching machine for receiving balls from said upwardly-slopingtrough and holding the same for automatic delivery one at a time to thepitching machine, and a pair of constantly-driven endless convevcrs eachrunning through said central trough and a portionof the first-namedtrough. each of said conveyers operating positively to convey the ballsto a corresponding receptacle.

6. In combination with a platform sloping rearwardly having aball-receiving trough at the bottom thereof and a back stop extendingupwardly from said trough against which the balls are batted, a troughextending rearwardly and upwardly from said first-named trough behindsaid back stop, a pair of pitching machines located behind the back stopin spaced relation, a separate receptacle for each pitching machine forreceiving balls from said upwardly-sloping trough and holding the samefor automatic delivery one at a time to the pitching machine, a pair ofconstantly-driven endless conveyers each running through said centraltrough and a portion of the firstammed trough, each of said cqnveyersoperating positively to convey the balls to a corresponding re ceptacle,and means for causing both conveyers to deliver to one receptacle.

7. In combination with a platform sloping rearwardly having alull-receiving trough at the bottom thereof and a back stop extendingupwardly from said trough against which the ball. are batted. a troughextending rearwardly and upwardly from the central portion of saidfirst-named trough behind said back stop, a pair of pitching machineslocated behind the back stop in spaced relation, a separate recepeachrunning through said central trough and a portion of 'the first-namedtrough, each of said conveyers operating positively to convey the ballsto a corresponding receptacle, and means controlled by the aggregateweight of the balls in either receptacle for causing the delivery ofballs from both conveyers into the same receptacle.

8. In combination with a platform sloping rearwardly having aball-receiving trough at the bottom thereof and'a back stop extendingupwardly from said trough against which the balls are batted, a troughextending rearwardly and upwardly from the central portion of said firstnamed trough behind said back stop, a pair of pitching machines locatedbehind the back stop in spaced relation, a separate receptacle for eachpitching machine for receiving balls from said upwardly-sloping troughand holding the same for automatic delivery one at a time to thepitching machine, a pair of constantly driven endless conveyers eachrunning through said central trough and a portion of the first namedtrough, each of said conveyers operating positively to convey the ballsto a corresponding receptacle, a gate in said central trough adapted todirect the balls from both conveyers into either of said receptacles,and means controlled by the aggregate weight of the balls in eitherreceptacle for operat ing the gate.

9. In combination with a baseball court, a pair of pitching machines,means for collecting the balls from said court, means for elevating theballs from said collecting means, and means for distributing the ballsfrom said elevating means to either or both of said pitching machines.

10. In combination with a baseballcourt, a pair of pitching machines,means for collecting the balls from said court, means for elevating theballs from said collecting means, means for distributing the balls fromsaid elevating means to said pitching machines, and means operated bythe balls delivered to each machine for causing said distributing meansto deliver to either or both of said pitching machines in accordancewith the nu ber of balls pitched by the machines.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature in presence of tWo, witnesses.

DANIEL HANDELAN. \Vitnesses:

F. A. \VHITELEY, H. A. BOWMAN.

